How can I convert a Unix timestamp to DateTime and vice versa?

Question

There is this example code, but then it starts talking about millisecond / nanosecond problems.

The same question is on MSDN, Seconds since the Unix epoch in C#.

This is what I've got so far:

public Double CreatedEpoch
{
  get
  {
    DateTime epoch = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0).ToLocalTime();
    TimeSpan span = (this.Created.ToLocalTime() - epoch);
    return span.TotalSeconds;
  }
  set
  {
    DateTime epoch = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0).ToLocalTime();
    this.Created = epoch.AddSeconds(value);
  }
}

Answer 1

this works for me

long timestamp = 1738317510894;
var date = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeMilliseconds(timestamp).ToLocalTime().ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

Answer 2

With .NET 6.0, and using long to avoid the 2038 problem:

From DateTime.UtcNow to UnixTime

// Cast the `double` into a `long`, not an `int`, to avoid an overflow after 2038:
long seconds = (long)DateTime.UtcNow.Subtract(DateTime.UnixEpoch).TotalSeconds;

seconds will contains the seconds since 01/01/1970 (UnixTime)

From UnixTime to DateTime.UtcNow

DateTime timestamp = DateTime.UnixEpoch.AddSeconds(seconds);

Fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/xNhO6q

Answer 3

With NET 8

You have this other option as well to get the timestamp with the new TimeProvider Class

 var timestamp = TimeProvider.System.GetUtcNow().ToUnixTimeSeconds();

Answer 4

For a while in .NET the DateTimeOffset class has had a method called FromUnixTimeMilliseconds which does do what you're looking for. This accepts the Unix time in milliseconds that have elapsed since 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z (January 1, 1970, at 12:00 AM UTC).

To use it, first convert the milliseconds to a DateTimeOffset:

long millisecs = 1677514053797;  // replace this with the Unix time you need to convert
DateTimeOffset unixTimeOffset = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeMilliseconds(millisecs);

Note: the offset has an Offset property which will be set to TimeSpan.Zero, which represents UTC, it is not timezone adjusted.

Next create a DateTime instance from the offset:

DateTime dt = new DateTime(unixTimeOffset.Ticks, DateTimeKind.Utc);

To convert it back from DateTime to Unix millisecond time:

DateTimeOffset backToUnixTimeOffset = new DateTimeOffset(dt, TimeSpan.Zero);
long backToMillisecs = backToUnixTimeOffset.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds();

The documentation for it is here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.datetimeoffset.fromunixtimemilliseconds?view=net-7.0 and here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.datetimeoffset.tounixtimemilliseconds?view=net-7.0#system-datetimeoffset-tounixtimemilliseconds.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

You can use DateTimeOffset.

For example. I have a DateTime object

var dateTime1 = DateTime.Now;

If I want to convert it to the Unix time stamps, it can be achieved as follows

var unixTimeSeconds = new DateTimeOffset(dateTime1).ToUnixTimeSeconds()

If you want convert unix timeStamp to normal DateTime, you can use this code piece:

var dateTime2 = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeSeconds(unixTimeSeconds).LocalDateTime;

or

var dateTime2 = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeSeconds(unixTimeSeconds).UtcDateTime;

For more information please visit this link :

DateTimeOffset.ToUnixTimeSeconds Method,
DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeSeconds

Answer 6

In C# 8.0 (.NET Core 2.1) it is a simple one liner:

DateTime.UnixEpoch.AddSeconds(unixTimeInSeconds)

Answer 7

Unix epoch is now part of DateTime class. Converting millis to DateTime is as easy as

DateTime.UnixEpoch.AddMilliseconds(millis)

Answer 8

Here's what you need:

public static DateTime UnixTimeStampToDateTime( double unixTimeStamp )
{
    // Unix timestamp is seconds past epoch
    DateTime dateTime = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
    dateTime = dateTime.AddSeconds( unixTimeStamp ).ToLocalTime();
    return dateTime;
}

Or, for Java (which is different because the timestamp is in milliseconds, not seconds):

public static DateTime JavaTimeStampToDateTime( double javaTimeStamp )
{
    // Java timestamp is milliseconds past epoch
    DateTime dateTime = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
    dateTime = dateTime.AddMilliseconds( javaTimeStamp ).ToLocalTime();
    return dateTime;
}

Answer 9

System.DateTimeOffset.Now.ToUnixTimeSeconds()

Answer 10

Written a simplest extension that works for us. If anyone looks for it...

public static class DateTimeExtensions
{
    public static DateTime FromUnixTimeStampToDateTime(this string unixTimeStamp)
    {

        return DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeSeconds(long.Parse(unixTimeStamp)).UtcDateTime;
    }
}

Answer 11

From Wikipedia:

UTC does not change with a change of seasons, but local time or civil time may change if a time zone jurisdiction observes daylight saving time (summer time). For example, local time on the east coast of the United States is five hours behind UTC during winter, but four hours behind while daylight saving is observed there.

So this is my code:

TimeSpan span = (DateTime.UtcNow - new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0,DateTimeKind.Utc));
double unixTime = span.TotalSeconds;

Answer 12

Unix time conversion is new in .NET Framework 4.6.

You can now more easily convert date and time values to or from .NET Framework types and Unix time. This can be necessary, for example, when converting time values between a JavaScript client and .NET server. The following APIs have been added to the DateTimeOffset structure:

static DateTimeOffset FromUnixTimeSeconds(long seconds)
static DateTimeOffset FromUnixTimeMilliseconds(long milliseconds)
long DateTimeOffset.ToUnixTimeSeconds()
long DateTimeOffset.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds()

Answer 13

I needed to convert a timeval struct (seconds, microseconds) containing UNIX time to DateTime without losing precision and haven't found an answer here so I thought I just might add mine:

DateTime _epochTime = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
private DateTime UnixTimeToDateTime(Timeval unixTime)
{
    return _epochTime.AddTicks(
        unixTime.Seconds * TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond +
        unixTime.Microseconds * TimeSpan.TicksPerMillisecond/1000);
}

Answer 14

From .net 4.6, you can do this:

var dateTime = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeSeconds(unixDateTime).DateTime;

Answer 15

var dt = DateTime.Now; 
var unixTime = ((DateTimeOffset)dt).ToUnixTimeSeconds();

// 1510396991

var dt = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeSeconds(1510396991);

// [11.11.2017 10:43:11 +00:00]

Answer 16

The latest version of .NET (v4.6) has added built-in support for Unix time conversions. That includes both to and from Unix time represented by either seconds or milliseconds.

• Unix time in seconds to UTC DateTimeOffset:

DateTimeOffset dateTimeOffset = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeSeconds(1000);

• DateTimeOffset to Unix time in seconds:

long unixTimeStampInSeconds = dateTimeOffset.ToUnixTimeSeconds();

• Unix time in milliseconds to UTC DateTimeOffset:

DateTimeOffset dateTimeOffset = DateTimeOffset.FromUnixTimeMilliseconds(1000000);

• DateTimeOffset to Unix time in milliseconds:

long unixTimeStampInMilliseconds = dateTimeOffset.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds();

---

Note: These methods convert to and from a UTC DateTimeOffset. To get a DateTime representation simply use the DateTimeOffset.UtcDateTime or DateTimeOffset.LocalDateTime properties:

DateTime dateTime = dateTimeOffset.UtcDateTime;

Answer 17

public static class UnixTime
    {
        private static readonly DateTime Epoch = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0);

        public static DateTime UnixTimeToDateTime(double unixTimeStamp)
        {
            return Epoch.AddSeconds(unixTimeStamp).ToUniversalTime();
        }
    }

you can call UnixTime.UnixTimeToDateTime(double datetime))

Answer 18

Be careful, if you need precision higher than milliseconds!

.NET (v4.6) methods (e.g. FromUnixTimeMilliseconds) don't provide this precision.

AddSeconds and AddMilliseconds also cut off the microseconds in the double.

These versions have high precision:

Unix -> DateTime

public static DateTime UnixTimestampToDateTime(double unixTime)
{
    DateTime unixStart = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, System.DateTimeKind.Utc);
    long unixTimeStampInTicks = (long) (unixTime * TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond);
    return new DateTime(unixStart.Ticks + unixTimeStampInTicks, System.DateTimeKind.Utc);
}

DateTime -> Unix

public static double DateTimeToUnixTimestamp(DateTime dateTime)
{
    DateTime unixStart = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, System.DateTimeKind.Utc);
    long unixTimeStampInTicks = (dateTime.ToUniversalTime() - unixStart).Ticks;
    return (double) unixTimeStampInTicks / TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond;
}

Answer 19

See IdentityModel.EpochTimeExtensions

public static class EpochTimeExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Converts the given date value to epoch time.
    /// </summary>
    public static long ToEpochTime(this DateTime dateTime)
    {
        var date = dateTime.ToUniversalTime();
        var ticks = date.Ticks - new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc).Ticks;
        var ts = ticks / TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond;
        return ts;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts the given date value to epoch time.
    /// </summary>
    public static long ToEpochTime(this DateTimeOffset dateTime)
    {
        var date = dateTime.ToUniversalTime();
        var ticks = date.Ticks - new DateTimeOffset(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, TimeSpan.Zero).Ticks;
        var ts = ticks / TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond;
        return ts;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts the given epoch time to a <see cref="DateTime"/> with <see cref="DateTimeKind.Utc"/> kind.
    /// </summary>
    public static DateTime ToDateTimeFromEpoch(this long intDate)
    {
        var timeInTicks = intDate * TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond;
        return new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc).AddTicks(timeInTicks);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts the given epoch time to a UTC <see cref="DateTimeOffset"/>.
    /// </summary>
    public static DateTimeOffset ToDateTimeOffsetFromEpoch(this long intDate)
    {
        var timeInTicks = intDate * TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond;
        return new DateTimeOffset(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, TimeSpan.Zero).AddTicks(timeInTicks);
    }
}

Answer 20

DateTime to UNIX timestamp:

public static double DateTimeToUnixTimestamp(DateTime dateTime)
{
    return (TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTimeToUtc(dateTime) - 
           new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, System.DateTimeKind.Utc)).TotalSeconds;
}

Answer 21

For .NET 4.6 and later:

public static class UnixDateTime
{
    public static DateTimeOffset FromUnixTimeSeconds(long seconds)
    {
        if (seconds < -62135596800L || seconds > 253402300799L)
            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("seconds", seconds, "");

        return new DateTimeOffset(seconds * 10000000L + 621355968000000000L, TimeSpan.Zero);
    }

    public static DateTimeOffset FromUnixTimeMilliseconds(long milliseconds)
    {
        if (milliseconds < -62135596800000L || milliseconds > 253402300799999L)
            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("milliseconds", milliseconds, "");

        return new DateTimeOffset(milliseconds * 10000L + 621355968000000000L, TimeSpan.Zero);
    }

    public static long ToUnixTimeSeconds(this DateTimeOffset utcDateTime)
    {
        return utcDateTime.Ticks / 10000000L - 62135596800L;
    }

    public static long ToUnixTimeMilliseconds(this DateTimeOffset utcDateTime)
    {
        return utcDateTime.Ticks / 10000L - 62135596800000L;
    }

    [Test]
    public void UnixSeconds()
    {
        DateTime utcNow = DateTime.UtcNow;
        DateTimeOffset utcNowOffset = new DateTimeOffset(utcNow);

        long unixTimestampInSeconds = utcNowOffset.ToUnixTimeSeconds();

        DateTimeOffset utcNowOffsetTest = UnixDateTime.FromUnixTimeSeconds(unixTimestampInSeconds);

        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Year, utcNowOffsetTest.Year);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Month, utcNowOffsetTest.Month);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Date, utcNowOffsetTest.Date);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Hour, utcNowOffsetTest.Hour);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Minute, utcNowOffsetTest.Minute);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Second, utcNowOffsetTest.Second);
    }

    [Test]
    public void UnixMilliseconds()
    {
        DateTime utcNow = DateTime.UtcNow;
        DateTimeOffset utcNowOffset = new DateTimeOffset(utcNow);

        long unixTimestampInMilliseconds = utcNowOffset.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds();

        DateTimeOffset utcNowOffsetTest = UnixDateTime.FromUnixTimeMilliseconds(unixTimestampInMilliseconds);

        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Year, utcNowOffsetTest.Year);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Month, utcNowOffsetTest.Month);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Date, utcNowOffsetTest.Date);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Hour, utcNowOffsetTest.Hour);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Minute, utcNowOffsetTest.Minute);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Second, utcNowOffsetTest.Second);
        Assert.AreEqual(utcNowOffset.Millisecond, utcNowOffsetTest.Millisecond);
    }
}

Answer 22

A Unix tick is 1 second (if I remember well), and a .NET tick is 100 nanoseconds.

If you've been encountering problems with nanoseconds, you might want to try using AddTick(10000000 * value).

Answer 23

DateTime unixEpoch = DateTime.ParseExact("1970-01-01", "yyyy-MM-dd", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
DateTime convertedTime = unixEpoch.AddMilliseconds(unixTimeInMillisconds);

Of course, one can make unixEpoch a global static, so it only needs to appear once in your project, and one can use AddSeconds if the UNIX time is in seconds.

To go the other way:

double unixTimeInMilliseconds = timeToConvert.Subtract(unixEpoch).TotalMilliseconds;

Truncate to Int64 and/or use TotalSeconds as needed.

Answer 24

I found the right answer just by comparing the conversion to 1/1/1970 w/o the local time adjustment;

DateTime date = new DateTime(2011, 4, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0);
DateTime epoch = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0);
TimeSpan span = (date - epoch);
double unixTime =span.TotalSeconds;

Answer 25

To supplement ScottCher's answer, I recently found myself in the annoying scenario of having both seconds and milliseconds UNIX timestamps arbitrarily mixed together in an input data set. The following code seems to handle this well:

static readonly DateTime UnixEpoch = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
static readonly double MaxUnixSeconds = (DateTime.MaxValue - UnixEpoch).TotalSeconds;

public static DateTime UnixTimeStampToDateTime(double unixTimeStamp)
{
   return unixTimeStamp > MaxUnixSeconds
      ? UnixEpoch.AddMilliseconds(unixTimeStamp)
      : UnixEpoch.AddSeconds(unixTimeStamp);
}